The Black Stallion

A wild horse saves a young boy’s life after a terrifying shipwreck and the two become unlikely friends in Carroll Ballard’s cinematic tour de force, adapted from Walter Farley’s classic children’s novel. From the crystalline shores of a deserted island to the green grass and dusty roads of 1940s suburban America, Ballard and director of photography Caleb Deschanel create a film of consistent visual invention and purity, one that also features a winning supporting performance by Mickey Rooney as a retired jockey and a gorgeous score by Carmine Coppola.

Special Features

Five short films by director Carroll Ballard, with new introductions by the filmmaker: Pigs! (1965), The Perils of Priscilla (1969), Rodeo (1969), Seems Like Only Yesterday (1971), and Crystallization (1974)

New conversation between Ballard and film critic Scott Foundas

New interview with Deschanel

New piece featuring Mary Ellen Mark discussing her photographs from the film’s set

Special Features

Five short films by director Carroll Ballard, with new introductions by the filmmaker: Pigs! (1965), The Perils of Priscilla (1969), Rodeo (1969), Seems Like Only Yesterday (1971), and Crystallization (1974)

New conversation between Ballard and film critic Scott Foundas

New interview with Deschanel

New piece featuring Mary Ellen Mark discussing her photographs from the film’s set

Trailer

PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Sragow

New cover by Nicolas Delort

Cast & Credits

Cast

Kelly Reno

Alec Ramsay

Mickey Rooney

Henry Dailey

Teri Garr

Alec's mother

Hoyt Axton

Alec's father

Clarence Muse

Snoe

Michael Higgins

Neville

Ed McNamara

Jake

Dogmi Larbi

Arab

Cass-Olé

The Black

Credits

Director

Carroll Ballard

Executive producer

Francis Ford Coppola

Produced by

Fred Roos

Produced by

Tom Sternberg

Based on the novel by

Walter Farley

Screenplay

Melissa Mathison

Screenplay

Jeanne Rosenberg

Screenplay

William D. Wittliff

Director of photography

Caleb Deschanel

Editor

Robert Dalva

Music

Carmine Coppola

Supervising sound editor

Alan Splet

Related Films

Related Films

From The Current

The Black Stallion is more than just a family adventure film; it’s a spectacular visual achievement. This is partly thanks to the brilliant craft of cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, who worked closely with director Carroll Ballard so that they coul…

With both films now streaming on the Criterion Channel, director Carroll Ballard discusses the parallels between his short documentary Rodeo and Francesco Rosi’s bull-fighting classic The Moment of Truth.